Well, since the topic has been brought up...
My issues with Family Guy, The Simpsons, and Futurama can all be covered in one phrase: Driven into the ground.
Let me say right up front that I love/have loved all three series. The Simpsons in particular is the single most influential and entertaining work I have ever experienced in my life, and stands at the top of the pop culture mountain for my generation. And I loved early Family Guy; the anarchic "Let's do whatever's funny" sensibility set it apart from The Simpsons and everything else on the air at the time. And Futurama made great use of its characters and was never stymied by its futuristic sci-fi setting; on the contrary, it mined some of the greatest jokes and storylines out of its premise.
But all of these shows have been on for too long, not in terms of the actual episode count but in terms of what has been done too often. We've seen the characters going through the same problems again and again, we've heard the catch phrases one too many times, and whatever was clever and original has been milked dry.
"Oh, Homer has a new job. Oh, Fry and Leela are kinda-sorta going out again. Oh, Stewie's gay. HAVEN'T SEEN THAT BEFORE!"
It's not, as Bob argued in his "The Simpsons is still funny" videos, that entertainment has become too fractured. It's that we've seen Homer and Marge's marriage on the ropes so many times it's impossible to think of them as characters anymore so much as animatronics programmed to recite the same dialogue for every passing carriage of tourists. Regardless of whatever good will built up over the Golden Age, Homer doing something stupid cannot retain the same impact over time.
It's basic psychology: what is new is interesting and fun, but over time it becomes ordinary. We become used to it, it's no longer exciting, and thus the feelings we have for it level off or drop.
I really wish American TV would follow the format of Britain or Japan, which have limited runs for most series and don't allow every show to coast for years as they become tired and stale.
Back on topic... Futurama has semi-abandoned its "It's the future" premise in favor of jokes about the Kardashians and CSI and Tron: Legacy. When I heard the Kardashians joke I was ready to smother the show with a pillow myself, and the news that the show has been canceled elated me. It's not that the show hasn't delivered some winners post-un-cancellation, but if they're also going to turn out an episode revolving around the Cult of Apple and Susan Boyle then please, in the name of mercy, kill the show. Better it die now and we can remember the good times than we see it carry on for another five years as it gets increasingly horrible.
Which leaves Family Guy... Like I said, I loved the early seasons, and when it came back it was appointment viewing for me. But then the show settled into a groove of random cutaway gags, references as punchlines, and making everyone on the show an asshole. Seriously, is there a truly sympathetic character in the entire cast? At best you have Meg, but I wouldn't consider her a real character. Even Brian, who (like Bob) I may agree with politically, is heavy-handed and difficult to actually like; something the show pointed out itself (but which they didn't learn from).
For everything that Bob said about the characters on Family Guy "growing," the show is ready to make any character obnoxious or off-putting in the name of supplying basic drama or a punchline. The only consistent personality traits are the broadest ones possible: Peter is stupid, Stewie is gay, Chris is slow, Quagmire's a horndog, etc.
I don't expect Family Guy to get canceled anytime soon. The ratings probably aren't too bad. But it's more than a bit confounding that McFarlane would continue to put his name on/lend his voice to this when something like American Dad was able to actually grow into a great show and gets by on consistent characterization and actual plots.
My issues with Family Guy, The Simpsons, and Futurama can all be covered in one phrase: Driven into the ground.
Let me say right up front that I love/have loved all three series. The Simpsons in particular is the single most influential and entertaining work I have ever experienced in my life, and stands at the top of the pop culture mountain for my generation. And I loved early Family Guy; the anarchic "Let's do whatever's funny" sensibility set it apart from The Simpsons and everything else on the air at the time. And Futurama made great use of its characters and was never stymied by its futuristic sci-fi setting; on the contrary, it mined some of the greatest jokes and storylines out of its premise.
But all of these shows have been on for too long, not in terms of the actual episode count but in terms of what has been done too often. We've seen the characters going through the same problems again and again, we've heard the catch phrases one too many times, and whatever was clever and original has been milked dry.
"Oh, Homer has a new job. Oh, Fry and Leela are kinda-sorta going out again. Oh, Stewie's gay. HAVEN'T SEEN THAT BEFORE!"
It's not, as Bob argued in his "The Simpsons is still funny" videos, that entertainment has become too fractured. It's that we've seen Homer and Marge's marriage on the ropes so many times it's impossible to think of them as characters anymore so much as animatronics programmed to recite the same dialogue for every passing carriage of tourists. Regardless of whatever good will built up over the Golden Age, Homer doing something stupid cannot retain the same impact over time.
It's basic psychology: what is new is interesting and fun, but over time it becomes ordinary. We become used to it, it's no longer exciting, and thus the feelings we have for it level off or drop.
I really wish American TV would follow the format of Britain or Japan, which have limited runs for most series and don't allow every show to coast for years as they become tired and stale.
Back on topic... Futurama has semi-abandoned its "It's the future" premise in favor of jokes about the Kardashians and CSI and Tron: Legacy. When I heard the Kardashians joke I was ready to smother the show with a pillow myself, and the news that the show has been canceled elated me. It's not that the show hasn't delivered some winners post-un-cancellation, but if they're also going to turn out an episode revolving around the Cult of Apple and Susan Boyle then please, in the name of mercy, kill the show. Better it die now and we can remember the good times than we see it carry on for another five years as it gets increasingly horrible.
Which leaves Family Guy... Like I said, I loved the early seasons, and when it came back it was appointment viewing for me. But then the show settled into a groove of random cutaway gags, references as punchlines, and making everyone on the show an asshole. Seriously, is there a truly sympathetic character in the entire cast? At best you have Meg, but I wouldn't consider her a real character. Even Brian, who (like Bob) I may agree with politically, is heavy-handed and difficult to actually like; something the show pointed out itself (but which they didn't learn from).
For everything that Bob said about the characters on Family Guy "growing," the show is ready to make any character obnoxious or off-putting in the name of supplying basic drama or a punchline. The only consistent personality traits are the broadest ones possible: Peter is stupid, Stewie is gay, Chris is slow, Quagmire's a horndog, etc.
I don't expect Family Guy to get canceled anytime soon. The ratings probably aren't too bad. But it's more than a bit confounding that McFarlane would continue to put his name on/lend his voice to this when something like American Dad was able to actually grow into a great show and gets by on consistent characterization and actual plots.
